来源丨英语咖啡屋
尊敬的总统先生：
我们怀着恐惧和厌恶的心情观看了您与乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基的对话报道。我们认为，您对于乌克兰在抗击俄罗斯侵略期间所获得的美国物资援助应当表示尊重和感激的期待，是一种冒犯。真正应当受到感激的是那些英勇的乌克兰士兵，他们正在为自由世界的价值观献出自己的生命。他们在前线已经奋战了超过11年，为了这些价值观和他们祖国的独立，面对普京的俄罗斯，他们不断牺牲。
我们无法理解，一个象征自由世界的国家领导人，竟然无法看到这一点。
此外，您在椭圆形办公室与泽连斯基总统的谈话氛围让我们感到深深的不安。这让我们回想起曾经在共产党法庭和安全机构审讯室中经历的场景。那些奉命行事的检察官和法官们告诉我们，他们掌握所有的权力，而我们毫无还手之力。他们要求我们停止抗争，声称正是因为我们的坚持，数千无辜的人正在受苦。他们剥夺了我们的自由和公民权利，仅仅因为我们拒绝与当权者合作，拒绝向其表示感激。我们震惊地发现，您竟然用类似的方式对待泽连斯基总统。
20世纪的历史清楚地表明，每当美国试图与民主价值观和欧洲盟友保持距离时，最终都会给自身带来威胁。1917年，伍德罗·威尔逊总统认识到了这一点，因此决定让美国加入第一次世界大战。1941年12月，富兰克林·德拉诺·罗斯福总统在珍珠港遇袭后，也认识到，保卫美国的战争不仅应当在太平洋进行，还必须在欧洲展开，与被纳粹德国侵略的国家并肩作战。
我们同样记得，如果没有罗纳德·里根总统和美国的财政支持，苏联帝国的解体是不可能实现的。里根总统深知，在苏联统治下的俄罗斯及其占领的国家里，数百万被奴役的人正在遭受苦难，其中成千上万的政治犯为了捍卫民主价值观付出了自由的代价。他的伟大之处之一，便是他毫不犹豫地称苏联为“邪恶帝国”，并坚定地与之对抗。最终，我们取得了胜利，今天，在华沙美国大使馆的对面，矗立着里根总统的雕像。
总统先生，物资援助——无论是军事还是财政上的——都不能被视为乌克兰、欧洲乃至整个自由世界为独立与自由所流的鲜血的等价物。人命是无价的，其价值无法用金钱衡量。真正应当受到感激的，是那些为自由和独立而牺牲血汗与生命的人。对于我们这些曾经在苏联控制下的共产政权中遭受迫害的“团结工会”成员、前政治犯而言，这一点是不言自明的。
我们呼吁美国履行其与英国在1994年《布达佩斯备忘录》中作出的承诺。在该协议中，美国明确保证保护乌克兰的领土完整，以换取乌克兰交出其核武库。这些承诺是无条件的——协议中没有任何条款表明，这种援助应被视为一项经济交易。
Dear Mr.President,
We watched the account of your conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine with horror and disgust.We find your expectations regarding expressions of respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States to Ukraine—fighting against Russia—offensive.Gratitude is due to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who are shedding their blood in defense of the values of the free world.They have been dying on the front lines for over 11 years in the name of these values and for the independence of their homeland,which has been attacked by Putin's Russia.
We cannot understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world could fail to see this.
We were also deeply disturbed by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation,as it reminded us of the interrogations conducted by the Security Service and the courtrooms of communist tribunals.Prosecutors and judges,acting on behalf of an all-powerful communist political police,also told us that they held all the cards while we had none.They demanded that we cease our activities,arguing that thousands of innocent people were suffering because of us.They deprived us of our freedom and civil rights because we refused to cooperate with the authorities and did not show them gratitude.We are shocked that you treated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a similar manner.
The history of the 20th century shows that whenever the United States sought to distance itself from democratic values and its European allies,it ultimately resulted in threats to the U.S.itself.President Woodrow Wilson understood this when he decided in 1917 that the United States must join World War I.President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood it after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941,when he decided that the war to defend America would be fought not only in the Pacific but also in Europe,in alliance with the countries attacked by Nazi Germany.
We remember that without President Ronald Reagan and American financial engagement,the collapse of the Soviet Empire would not have been possible.President Reagan understood that in Soviet Russia and the countries it had conquered,millions of enslaved people,including thousands of political prisoners,suffered for their commitment to democratic values,paying the price with their freedom.His greatness lay,among other things,in his willingness to unequivocally name the USSR the"Evil Empire"and to confront it decisively.We won,and today,a statue of President Ronald Reagan stands in Warsaw,facing the U.S.Embassy.
Mr.President,material assistance—both military and financial—cannot be treated as a price tag for the blood shed in the name of the independence and freedom of Ukraine,Europe,and the entire free world.Human life is priceless;its value cannot be measured in money.Gratitude is owed to those who sacrifice their blood and freedom.For us,the people of"Solidarity,"former political prisoners of the communist regime serving Soviet Russia,this is self-evident.
We call on the United States to fulfill the guarantees it made,together with the United Kingdom,in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994,in which it explicitly committed to defending the inviolability of Ukraine’s borders in exchange for Ukraine relinquishing its nuclear arsenal.These guarantees are unconditional—there is not a single word in that agreement suggesting that such assistance should be treated as a commercial transaction.
政协委员建议删除离婚冷静期条款，避免加剧弱势方困境
最高院：已支付超出民间借贷保护利率的利息，可直接抵扣借款本金
律师未承诺必胜就是犯罪？也谈段华案的几多荒诞
